Cross-services application service, device and network content delivery management

ABSTRACT

A system for providing cross-services application service, device, and network content delivery management is disclosed. In particular, the system may allow devices and application services supported by multiple network services to leverage the strengths of such network services to ensure that content delivery is efficiently accomplished. The system may enable a device or application service to be associated with a management domain. Then, the management domain may subscribe the device or application service with one or more underlying supporting networks of the management domain. The associating and subscribing may be performed for the management domain by an orchestrator or by a management domain authority. The management domain authority may include a predictive, machine-learning element that drives access to content on behalf of the management domain authority through its devices and services to which they are subscribed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to technologies for providingcross-services and content delivery management, and more particularly,to a system and method for providing cross-services application service,device, and network content delivery management.

BACKGROUND

In today's society, users and organizations are increasingly utilizingsmartphones and other computing devices to gain access to the Internet,request and access various types of content, access softwareapplications, access software services, access large volumes of data,and perform a variety of other tasks and functions. Currently, in orderto handle large volumes of requests from users requesting content,services, and applications, content providers often employ the use ofcontent delivery networks and systems to serve the content and providethe services to the users in a more efficient and effective manner.Content delivery networks are particularly useful when high performance,reliability, scalability, and cost savings associated with distributingthe content and providing the services are important to the contentproviders that provide the content, services, and software applications.

Despite the tremendous benefits that content delivery networks and othertechnologies provide today, there is still room for enhancing thefunctionality of content delivery networks and their associatedtechnologies. As an example, user devices currently have to beassociated with each individual network through which the user devicesoperate on a case by case basis. A tablet device may associate andregister with a cellular network by using a specific process thatincludes utilizing the cellular network itself, the tablet device'sidentifier, a telephone number associated with the tablet device, andother information. Then, the same tablet device may also need to beregistered separately on one or more Wi-Fi networks through which thetablet device operates. The cellular network and the one or more Wi-Finetworks may each have separate administrative processes that have to beperformed iteratively. As a result, if a user or a domain has manyassociated devices, each device will need to be separately configuredfor each of the supporting networks through which the devices will needto operate. When a new network is added to the list of supportingnetworks, then the process of configuration for each of the devices hasto be repeated. Similarly, when a new application service is added bythe user to a device or to a supporting network, similar configurationprocesses also need to be conducted. Another example issue associatedwith content delivery networks and their associated technologies is thatcontent access is often denied to users and organizations because of itsclose coupling to content consumption.

SUMMARY

A system and accompanying methods for providing cross-servicesapplication service, device, and network content delivery management aredisclosed. In particular, the system and methods may involvecentralizing the administration of devices and applications with eachother and across the supporting networks through which the devices andapplications operate. In order to accomplish the foregoing, the systemand methods may involve utilizing a centralized management domainauthority engine in a cloud-computing environment, as a local service,or a combination thereof. A management domain authority may create themanagement domain authority engine and an accompanying database toensure that the policies of the management domain authority are followedby each of the devices, networks, and application services in themanagement domain of the management domain authority. Such policies mayinclude, but are not limited to, policies relating to cost caps,minimum/maximum/average bandwidth, bandwidth consumption, packetlatency, jitter and packet loss requirements, security requirements,time of day/day of week requirements, locations, digital rightsmanagement parameters, account status, other policies, or anycombination thereof.

By utilizing the management domain authority engine, the system andmethods may allow devices and application services supported by multiplenetwork services to leverage the strengths of such network services toensure that content delivery is efficiently accomplished, while alsoavoiding the pitfalls of those network services that are less capable,less efficient, and/or less cost-efficient. The system and methods mayenable a device or application service to be associated with amanagement domain controlled by the management domain authority. Themanagement domain may then automatically subscribe the device orapplication service with one or more underlying supporting networks ofthe management domain. The associating and subscribing may be performedfor the management domain by an orchestrator or by the management domainauthority, such as by utilizing the management domain authority engine.

In certain embodiments, the management domain authority may include apredictive, machine-learning element that drives access to content onbehalf of the management domain authority through its devices andservices to which they are subscribed. Also, in certain embodiments,when a new application service is added to a device or a supportingnetwork, the system and methods may include automatically configuringthe new application service for other devices, networks, and/or servicesunder the management domain authority without manual intervention. Inadditional embodiments, the system and methods may allow any device,application service, and/or network to access (e.g. download) content,while ensuring that the consumption of the content is constrained toonly the authorized time, place, format, device, etc., or a combinationthereof. In further embodiments, as a user of the application serviceand/or device transits physical space, a predictive scheduler of themanagement domain authority may anticipate content requirements for itsdevices and users, and may download all or part of selected content tothe most capable devices in the management domain. In still furtherembodiments, in anticipation of a management domain authority-drivensupporting network change, a device and/or application service may takemeasures to associate with other supporting networks so as to allow fora smooth transition, such as during a download or streaming of selectedcontent.

In one embodiment, a system for providing cross-services applicationservice, device, and network content delivery management is disclosed.The system may include a memory that stores instructions and a processorthat executes the instructions to perform various operations of thesystem. The system may perform an operation that includes associating afirst device with a management domain under control of a managementdomain authority. The system may then perform an operation that includespropagating a policy of the management domain authority to the firstdevice. Additionally, the system may perform an operation that includessubscribing, in accordance with the policy, the first device with aplurality of networks associated with the management domain.Furthermore, the system may perform an operation that includesreceiving, from the first device, a request for content. Moreover, thesystem may perform an operation that includes providing, to the firstdevice and in response to the request, access to the content inaccordance with the policy of the management domain authority. Theaccess to the content may be provided via at least one network of theplurality of networks to which the first device is subscribed.

In another embodiment, a method for providing cross-services applicationservice, device, and network content delivery management is disclosed.The method may include utilizing a memory that stores instructions, anda processor that executes the instructions to perform the variousfunctions of the method. In particular, the method may includeassociating a first device with a management domain under control of amanagement domain authority. Additionally, the method may includepropagating a policy of the management domain authority to the firstdevice. The method may also include subscribing, in accordance with thepolicy, the first device with a plurality of networks associated withthe management domain. Furthermore, the method may include receiving,from the first device, a request for content. Moreover, the method mayinclude providing, to the first device and in response to the request,access to the content in accordance with the policy of the managementdomain authority. The access to the content may be provided via at leastone network of the plurality of networks to which the first device issubscribed.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer-readable device havinginstructions for providing cross-services application service, device,and network content delivery management is provided. The computerinstructions, which when loaded and executed by a processor, may causethe processor to perform operations including: associating a firstdevice with a management domain under control of a management domainauthority; propagating a policy of the management domain authority tothe first device; subscribing, in accordance with the policy, the firstdevice with a plurality of networks associated with the managementdomain; receiving, from the first device, a request for content; andproviding, to the first device and in response to the request, access tothe content in accordance with the policy of the management domainauthority, wherein the access to the content is provided via at leastone network of the plurality of networks to which the first device issubscribed.

These and other features of the systems and methods for providingcross-services application service, device, and network content deliverymanagement are described in the following detailed description,drawings, and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for providing cross-servicesapplication service, device, and network content delivery managementaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a sample method for providingcross-services application service, device, and network content deliverymanagement according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a machine in the form of a computersystem within which a set of instructions, when executed, may cause themachine to perform any one or more of the methodologies or operations ofthe systems and methods for providing cross-services applicationservice, device, and network content delivery management.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A system 100 and accompanying methods for providing cross-servicesapplication service, device, and network content delivery management aredisclosed. In particular, the system 100 and methods may involvecentralizing the administration of devices and applications with eachother and across the supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 throughwhich the devices and applications operate. In order to accomplish theforegoing, the system 100 and methods may involve utilizing acentralized management domain authority engine 137 in a cloud-computingenvironment, as a local service, or a combination thereof, to facilitatethe foregoing. A management domain authority may create the managementdomain authority engine 137 and an accompanying database, such asdatabase 155, to ensure that the policies of the management domainauthority are followed by each of the devices, networks, and applicationservices in the management domain 136 of the management domainauthority. Such policies may include, but are not limited to, policiesrelating to cost caps, minimum/maximum/average bandwidth, bandwidthconsumption, packet latency, jitter and packet loss requirements,security requirements, time of day/day of week requirements, locations,digital rights management parameters, account status, other policies, orany combination thereof.

By utilizing the management domain authority engine 137, the system 100and methods may allow devices and application services supported bymultiple network services to leverage the strengths of such networkservices to ensure that the delivery of content is efficientlyaccomplished. Notably, the content may be delivered efficiently whilealso avoiding the pitfalls of those network services that are lesscapable, less efficient, and/or less cost-efficient. The system 100 andmethods may enable a device (e.g. first user device 102) or anapplication service to be associated with the management domain 136controlled by the management domain authority. The management domain 136may then subscribe the device or application service with one or moreunderlying supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 of the managementdomain 136. In certain embodiments, the associating and subscribing ofthe device and/or application service may be performed for themanagement domain 136 by an orchestrator or by the management domainauthority, such as by utilizing the management domain authority engine137.

In certain embodiments, the management domain authority may drivesaccess to content on behalf of the management domain authority throughits devices and services to which they are subscribed. Also, in certainembodiments, when a new application service is added to a device or asupporting network 120, 125, 130, 135, the system 100 and methods mayinclude automatically configuring the new application service for otherdevices, networks, and/or services under the management domain authoritywithout the need for manual intervention. In certain embodiments, thesystem 100 and methods may allow any device, application service, and/ornetwork to access (e.g. download) content, while ensuring that theconsumption (e.g. display) of the content is constrained to theauthorized time, place, format, device, etc., or a combination thereof.In certain embodiments, as a user of the application service and/ordevice changes his or her location, a predictive scheduler of themanagement domain authority may anticipate content requirements for itsdevices and users, and may download all or part of desired content tothe most capable devices in the management domain 136. In furtherembodiments, in anticipation of a management domain authority-drivensupporting network change, a device and/or application service may takemeasures to associate with other supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135so as to allow for a smooth transition, such as during a download ofdesired content.

As shown in FIG. 1, a system 100 for providing cross-servicesapplication service, device, and network content delivery management isdisclosed. The system 100 may be configured to support, but is notlimited to supporting, cloud computing services, content deliveryservices, satellite services, telephone services, voice-over-internetprotocol services (VoIP), software as a service (SaaS) applications,gaming applications and services, productivity applications andservices, mobile applications and services, and any other computingapplications and services. The system may include a first user 101 thatmay utilize a first user device 102 to access data, content, andservices, or to perform a variety of other tasks and functions. As anexample, the first user 101 may utilize first user device 102 totransmit signals to access various online services, such as thoseprovided by a content provider or service provider associated withcommunications network 135. The first user device 102 may include amemory 103 that includes instructions, and a processor 104 that executesthe instructions from the memory 103 to perform the various operationsthat are performed by the first user device 102. In certain embodiments,the processor 104 may be hardware, software, or a combination thereof.In certain embodiments, the first user device 102 may be a computer, alaptop, a tablet device, a phablet, a server, a mobile device, asmartphone, a smart watch, a motor vehicle, or any other type ofcomputing device. Illustratively, the first user device 102 is shown asa smartphone device in FIG. 1.

In addition to the first user 101, the system 100 may also include asecond user 110 that may utilize a second user device 111 to also accessdata, content, and services, and to perform a variety of otherfunctions. For example, the second user device 111 may be utilized bythe second user 110 to transmit signals to request various types ofcontent, services, and data provided by providers associated withcommunications network 135 or any other network in the system 100. Thesecond user device 111 may include a memory 112 that includesinstructions, and a processor 113 that executes the instructions fromthe memory 112 to perform the various operations that are performed bythe second user device 111. In certain embodiments, the processor 113may be hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Similar to thefirst user device 102, in certain embodiments, the second user device111 may be a computer, a laptop, a tablet device, a phablet, a server, amobile device, a smartphone, a smart watch, a motor vehicle, or anyother type of computing device. Illustratively, the second user device111 is shown as a tablet device in FIG. 1.

In certain embodiments, first user device 102 and the second user device111 may have any number of software applications and/or applicationservices stored and/or accessible thereon. For example, the first andsecond user devices 102, 111 may include cloud-based applications,mapping applications, location tracking applications, databaseapplications, gaming applications, internet-based applications, browserapplications, mobile applications, service-based applications,productivity applications, video applications, music applications,streaming media applications, social media applications, any other typeof applications, any types of application services, or a combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, the software applications and servicesmay include one or more graphical user interfaces so as to enable thefirst and second users 101, 110 to readily interact with the softwareapplications. The software applications and services may also beutilized by the first and second users 101, 110 to interact with the anydevice in the system 100, any network in the system 100, or anycombination thereof. In certain embodiments, the first user device 102and the second user device 111 may include associated telephone numbers,international mobile subscriber identities, or any other identifiers touniquely identify the first and second user devices 102, 111.

The system 100 may include a communications network 120, which may beutilized by the first and second user devices 102, 111 tocommunicatively link with each other, such as via a telephone call orother communications session. Additionally, the communications network120 may be utilized to connect the first and second user devices 102,111 with any other devices, applications, and/or communications networks125, 130, 135 inside or outside the system 100. Furthermore, thecommunications network 120 may be configured to transmit, generate, andreceive any information and data traversing the system 100. Thecommunications network 120 may include and be connected to acloud-computing network, a wireless network, an Ethernet network, asatellite network, a broadband network, a cellular network, a privatenetwork, a cable network, the Internet, an internet protocol network, amultiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network, a content distributionnetwork, any network, or any combination thereof. Illustratively, thecommunications network 120 is shown as a cellular network including oneor more cell towers 122, which may include any number of antennae tofacilitate communications for the devices, applications, and networks inthe system 100. The cell towers 122 may be utilized to create a cell forthe communications network 120. Each cell tower 122 may include anidentifier that is utilized to identify the cell tower 122 to any of thenetworks, devices, and programs in the system 100. The identifier may bea sequence of numbers, characters, or any combination thereof thatuniquely identify the cell tower 122. In certain embodiments, the celltower 122 may be a base station or other similar station, and mayinclude any of the functionality and features of any type of cell siteor tower. In certain embodiments, the communications network 120 may bepart of a single autonomous system that is located in a particulargeographic region, or be part of multiple autonomous systems that spanseveral geographic regions. In certain embodiments, the communicationsnetwork 120 may be a supporting network of a management domain 136 thatmay be associated with a management domain authority.

Additionally, the system 100 may include a communications network 125,which may also be utilized by the devices, applications, and/orcommunications networks 120, 130, 135 to communicate with each other andto other devices, applications, and/or networks inside or outside thesystem 100. The communications network 125 may be configured totransmit, generate, and receive any information and data traversing thesystem 100. The communications network 125 may include and be connectedto a cloud-computing network, a wireless network, an Ethernet network, asatellite network, a broadband network, a cellular network, a privatenetwork, a cable network, the Internet, an internet protocol network, aMPLS network, a content distribution network, any network, or anycombination thereof. Illustratively, the communications network 125 isshown as Wi-Fi network, which may include any number of wireless accesspoints 127 to facilitate communications for the devices, applications,and networks in the system 100. In certain embodiments, thecommunications network 125 may be part of a single autonomous systemthat is located in a particular geographic region, or be part ofmultiple autonomous systems that span several geographic regions. Incertain embodiments, the communications network 125 may be a supportingnetwork of a management domain 136 that may be associated with amanagement domain authority.

The system 100 may also include a communications network 130, which maybe configured to link each of the devices in the system 100 to oneanother, and be configured to transmit, generate, and receive anyinformation and data traversing the system 100. In certain embodiments,the communications network 130 may include any number of servers,databases, or other componentry, and may be utilized by the devices,applications, and/or communications networks 120, 125, 135 tocommunicate with each other and with other devices, applications, and/ornetworks inside and/or outside the system 100. The communicationsnetwork 130 may also include and be connected to a cloud-computingnetwork, a wireless network, an Ethernet network, a satellite network, abroadband network, a cellular network, a private network, a cablenetwork, the Internet, an internet protocol network, a MPLS network, acontent distribution network, any network, or any combination thereof.Illustratively, the communications network 130 is shown as media contentnetwork, such as an internet protocol television network that may beutilized to deliver various types of content to the first and seconduser devices 102, 111. The communications network 130 may include anynumber of devices 132, which may include, but are not limited to,routers, set-top-boxes, gateways, computing devices, or any combinationthereof. The devices 132 may be utilized to facilitate communicationsbetween and among the devices, applications, and networks in the system100. In certain embodiments, the communications network 130 may be partof a single autonomous system that is located in a particular geographicregion, or be part of multiple autonomous systems that span severalgeographic regions. In certain embodiments, the communications network130 may be a supporting network of a management domain 136 that may beassociated with a management domain authority.

The system 100 may further include a communications network 135. Muchlike communications networks 120, 125, and 130, the communicationsnetwork 135 of the system 100 may be configured to link each of thedevices in the system 100 to one another, and be configured to transmit,generate, and receive any information and data traversing the system100. In certain embodiments, the communications network 135 may includeany number of servers, databases, or other componentry. Thecommunications network 135 may also include and be connected to acloud-computing network, a wireless network, an Ethernet network, asatellite network, a broadband network, a cellular network, a privatenetwork, a cable network, the Internet, an internet protocol network, aMPLS network, a content distribution network, any network or anycombination thereof. Illustratively, servers 140 and 145 are shown asbeing included within communications network 135, and the communicationsnetwork 135 is shown as a content delivery network. Additionally, thecommunications network 135 may also include a management domainauthority engine 137, which may utilize the servers 140 and 145 toperform its operations. In certain embodiments, the communicationsnetwork 135 may be part of a single autonomous system that is located ina particular geographic region, or be part of multiple autonomoussystems that span several geographic regions. In certain embodiments,the communications network 135 may be a supporting network of amanagement domain 136 that may be associated with a management domainauthority.

Along with the communications networks 120, 125, 130, 135, the system100 may include a management domain authority associated with amanagement domain 136. In certain embodiments, the management domainauthority may be a customer, user, organization, content provider, aconsortium of customers, users, or entities, or any combination thereof,that may be serviced by a service provider or communications provider.The management domain authority may control and preside over amanagement domain 136, which may include a set of devices, applicationservices, and/or supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 that are ownedand/or controlled by the management domain authority and are subject tothe policies of the management domain authority. For example,illustratively, the management domain 136 includes communicationsnetworks 120, 125, 130, 135, servers 140, 145, 160, management domainauthority engine 137, and database 155. Notably, however, the managementdomain 136 may include any number of devices, application services,and/or supporting networks, and may be homogenous or heterogeneous.

The management domain authority may be utilized to centralize theadministration of devices, application services, and/or supportingnetworks 120, 125, 130, 135 with each other and across the networksthrough which they operate. Each management domain 136 of a managementdomain authority may have the following characteristics: eachapplication service may potentially be found on one or more devices inthe management domain 136, each device may support multiple applicationservices, each device may support multiple supporting networks 120, 125,130, 135, each supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 may supportmultiple devices, and each device may receive content for relay toanother device associated with the management domain 136. In certainembodiments, the functionality, the policies, and the features of themanagement domain authority may be provided by a service provider orother entity in a variety of ways. For example, the functionality, thepolicies, and the features of the management domain authority may beprovided via opt-in software, via a voluntary or mandatory download tothe management domain 136, or through any other desired means.

Devices, application services, and/or supporting networks 120, 125, 130,135 may be added or removed from the management domain 136, such as byutilizing the management domain authority engine 137 of the managementdomain authority. The management domain authority engine 137 may be anytype of computing device, any type of program, any collection ofcomputing devices, any collection of programs, or any combinationthereof. In FIG. 1, management domain authority engine 137 includesservers 140, 145 and resides within communications network 135, however,the management domain authority engine 137 may include any number ofdevices and/or programs or be associated with any other network. Adevice, application service, or supporting network may be associatedwith the management domain 136 under control of a management domainauthority. In certain embodiments, the associating may involveregistering the device, application service, or supporting networks 120,125, 130, 135 with the management domain 136, the management domainauthority, or a combination thereof.

The device, application service, and/or supporting networks 120, 125,130, 135 may be associated and/or registered with the management domain136 in a variety of ways. For example, a device telephone number,international mobile subscriber identity, other identifier, or acombination thereof, may be utilized to identify the device with themanagement domain 136. If the device does not have an internationalmobile subscriber identity, for example, then a device name may beutilized to identify the device across the supporting networks 120, 125,130, 135 within the scope of the management domain authority and to themanagement domain authority engine 137. Application services andsupporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 may be associated with themanagement domain 136 based on application service identifiers andnetwork identifiers, or other identifiers, respectively. In certainembodiments, devices, application services, and/or supporting networks120, 125, 130, 135 of a management domain 136 may be associated acrosslayers by physical address/location, by email identifiers, groupidentifiers, etc. In certain embodiments, devices, application services,and/or supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 of a management domain 136may be multi-valued, have multiple instances, have accounts, utilizeauthentication, utilize security policies, utilize geolocation policies,or a combination thereof.

In certain embodiments, the associating may be performed by themanagement domain authority engine 137, a local orchestrator device orprogram, a cloud-based system, or any combination thereof. In certainembodiments, the associating may be performed in response to receiving arequest to join the management domain 136 from a device, applicationservice, or supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135; based on the devicebeing in a list of authorized devices associated with the managementdomain authority; based on the application service being in a list ofauthorized application services; based on the supporting network beingin a list of authorized supporting networks; based on the managementdomain authority auto-detecting the device, application service, and/orsupporting network 120, 125, 130, 135; based on a recommendationprovided by a device, an organization, a member of the community, amember of the management domain 136; or based on any combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, if a device, application service,and/or supporting network are recommended to be associated with themanagement domain 136 from a member, the member may be provided withcertain type of incentives, such as, but not limited to, a financialincentives, priority content delivery services, increased bandwidthlimits, or any combination thereof.

The policies of the management domain authority may be enforced andpropagated by the management domain authority engine 137. Policies mayinclude, but are not limited to, cost cap policies,minimum/maximum/average bandwidth policies, bandwidth consumptionpolicies, packet latency policies, jitter and packet loss requirementpolicies, security requirement policies, time of day/day of weekrequirements, location policies, digital rights management parameters,account status policies, other policies, or any combination thereof. Themanagement domain authority engine 137 may propagate policies to anydevice, application service and/or supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135under the control of the management domain authority. When policieschange or are modified, the management domain authority engine 137 maysimilarly propagate the changed or modified policies to any device,application service and/or supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 underthe control of the management domain authority. In certain embodiments,certain portions of the management domain 136 may be subject to acertain set of policies, while other portions of the management domain136 may be subject to a different set of policies.

Once the device, applications service, and/or supporting network 120,125, 130, 135 are associated with the management domain 136 inaccordance with one or more policies, the management domain authorityengine 137 may subscribe the device, application services, and/orsupporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 with one or more other supportingnetworks 120, 125, 130, 135 and with each other. In certain embodiments,once the device, application services, and/or supporting network 120,125, 130, 135 are subscribed, the system 100 may include allowing thepolicies to be applied to the device, application services, and/orsupporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 to access the management domainauthority's application service database engine so as to enable one ormore new applications to automatically install across one or morenetworks associated with the management domain authority. In certainembodiments, devices, application services, and/or supporting networks120, 125, 130, 135 belonging to the management domain 136 may leveragethe devices, application services, and/or supporting network 120, 125,130, 135 of the management domain 136 to ensure that content delivery isefficiently accomplished.

The management domain 136 may receive requests for content, such as fromfirst and second user devices 102,111. In response to such requests, thesystem 100 may utilize the management domain authority to provide therequestor with access to the content in accordance with the one or morepolicies of the management domain authority. The content may be providedthrough a variety of means, such as by utilizing the supporting networks120, 125, 130, 135 to which the first and second user devices 102, 111are subscribed. The system 100, such as by utilizing the managementdomain authority engine 137, may determine if the first and second userdevices 102, 111 are authorized to consume the content that has beenaccessed by the first and second user devices 102, 111. If the first andsecond user devices 102, 111 are not authorized to consume the content,the system 100 may cause the content to be offloaded onto another devicein the system 100 that is authorized for consumption of the content.

In certain embodiments, if there are any conflicts in the managementdomain 136 of the management domain authority, the management domainauthority may institute one or more precedence rules. For example, if afirst component or element of the management domain 136 has a conflictwith a second component or element of the management domain 136, one ofthe components may be shut out from a cooperative content deliveryendeavor for content segments that are not permitted by components ofthe management domain 136 that are providing the content deliveryservice. For example, one component may be shut out from a contentdelivery operation based on the component's proximity to the devicerequesting the content or based on other reasons.

Notably, the functionality of the system 100 may be supported andexecuted by using any combination of the servers 140, 145, and 160. Incertain embodiments, the server 140 may include a memory 141 thatincludes instructions, and a processor 142 that executes theinstructions from the memory 141 to perform various operations that areperformed by the server 140. The processor 142 may be hardware,software, or a combination thereof. Similarly, the server 145 mayinclude a memory 146 that includes instructions, and a processor 147that executes the instructions from the memory 146 to perform thevarious operations that are performed by the server 145. In certainembodiments, the servers 140, 145, and 160 may be network servers,routers, gateways, computers, mobile devices or any other suitablecomputing device. In certain embodiments, the servers 140, 145 may becommunicatively linked to the communications network 120, thecommunications network 125, the communications network 130, thecommunications network 135, any network, any device in the system 100,or any combination thereof.

The database 155 of the system 100 may be utilized to store and relayinformation that traverses the system 100, cache content that traversesthe system 100, store data about each of the devices in the system 100and perform any other typical functions of a database. In certainembodiments, the database 155 may be connected to or reside within themanagement domain 136, the communications network 135, any othernetwork, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the database155 may serve as a central repository for any information associatedwith any of the devices and information associated with the system 100.Furthermore, the database 155 may include a processor and memory or beconnected to a processor and memory to perform the various operationassociated with the database 155. In certain embodiments, the database155 may be connected to the management domain authority engine 137, theservers 140, 145, 160, the first user device 102, the second user device111, the communications networks 120, 125, 130, or any combinationthereof.

The database 155 may also store information and metadata obtained fromthe system 100, store metadata and other information associated with thefirst and second users 101, 110, store user profiles associated with thefirst and second users 101, 110, store device profiles associated withany device in the system 100, store communications traversing the system100, store user preferences, store information associated with anydevice or signal in the system 100, store information relating topatterns of usage relating to the first and second user devices 102,111, store any information obtained from the communications networks120, 125, 130, or any combination thereof, store any informationgenerated by or associated with the management domain authority engine137, store performance data for the devices, networks and applicationservices under the control of the management domain authority and withinthe management domain 136, store the policies of the management domainauthority, store diagnostic information for devices, applications, andnetworks in the management domain 136, store any of the informationdisclosed for any of the operations and functions disclosed herewith,store any information traversing the system 100, or any combinationthereof. Furthermore, the database 155 may be configured to processqueries sent to it by any device in the system 100.

Operatively, the system 100 may provide cross-services applicationservice, device, and network content delivery management as shown in thefollowing exemplary scenarios. In a first scenario, the first user 101may be utilizing first user device 102, which may be a smartphone orother similar device. The first user 101 may also have a motor vehicle,a tablet device, and other computing devices. The first user 101 mayactivate the first user device 102 and the first user device 102 may beassociated and/or registered with a network, such as communicationsnetwork 120. Once the first user device 102 is associated and/orregistered with the communications network 120, the first user device102 and the communications network 120 may be made available to alldevices, application services, and/or supporting networks 125, 130, 135of the management domain authority and vice versa. Any content requestedby the first user 101 via the first user device 102 may be serviced byany of the devices, application services, and/or supporting networks120, 125, 130, 135 belonging to the management domain 136. The contentmay be provided to the first user device 102 by certain devices,application services, and/or supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135based on the proximity to the first user device 102, bandwidthcongestion levels, packet loss levels, policies of the management domainauthority, costs, packet latency levels, security policies, time ofday/day of week requirements, digital rights management parameters,account status policies, other policies, or any combination thereof.

In a second example scenario, a predictive scheduler associated with thesystem 100 and management domain authority may be utilized to assist inthe delivery of content. The predictive scheduler may be part of themanagement domain authority engine 137 or part of any applicationservice, device, and/or supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 ofmanagement domain 136. Using this example, the second user 110 may havea television series scheduled for recording on a device of the seconduser 110, such as a digital video recorder. In the morning, the seconduser 110 may have scheduled the television series to be recorded duringthe evening, which may be a peak usage time in the system 100. Duringthe day, when the second user 110 is out and about, the second userdevice 111, which may be a smartphone, may have access to high speedWi-Fi, such as provided by communications network 125. The predictivescheduler of the system 100 may, by utilizing the management domainauthority, upload the television series to the second user device 111during the day to assist with curbing congestion in the evening and toensure that the second user 110 may experience the content withoutissues. Once the second user 110 returns home, the management domainauthority may offload the content from the second user device 111 to thesecond user's 110 digital video recorder. The management domainauthority may control consumption of the content via the digital videorecorder based on one or more policies. For example, the managementdomain authority may only allow the digital video recorder to allow thesecond user 110 to view the television series at an authorized time inthe evening.

In a third example scenario, an example of content offload authorizationperformed by the system 100 is provided. In this example, the first user101 may want to view a particular movie via streaming, however, thefirst user 101 may not have high-speed internet available at the firstuser's 101 home. The first user 101 may transmit a request for moviewhile at home, which may be received by a device, application service,and/or supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 of the management domainauthority. The first user 101 may then drive their car to his or herlocal supermarket, which may include a Wi-Fi network, such ascommunications network 125. Since the car is in range of the Wi-Finetwork, the management domain authority may be configured to transmitinstructions to cause the movie file to be downloaded to a storagedevice of the first user's 101 car while the car is in range of theWi-Fi network. Once the first user 101 drives home, the managementdomain authority may cause the movie file to be transferred from thefirst user's 101 vehicle to the first user's 101 authorized tabletdevice, which may be first user device 102. The movie file may betransferred from the first user's 101 vehicle by utilizing the firstuser's 101 home network, which may be communications network 130. Then,the management domain authority may authorize the first user 101 towatch the movie based on one or more policies of the management domainauthority.

Notably, as shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 may perform any of theoperative functions disclosed herein by utilizing the processingcapabilities of server 160, the storage capacity of the database 155, orany other component of the system 100 to perform the operative functionsdisclosed herein. The server 160 may include one or more processors 162that may be configured to process any of the various functions of thesystem 100. The processors 162 may be software, hardware, or acombination of hardware and software. Additionally, the server 160 mayalso include a memory 161, which stores instructions that the processors162 may execute to perform various operations of the system 100. Forexample, the server 160 may assist in processing loads handled by thevarious devices in the system 100, such as, but not limited to,associating devices, application services, and devices with a managementdomain under control of a management domain authority; propagatingpolicies of the management domain to devices, application services, anddevices in the management domain; subscribing devices, applicationservices, and networks with supporting networks of the managementdomain; receiving requests for content; providing access to content inaccordance with the policies of the management domain; determining ifdevices are authorized to consume content; offloading content to devicesunder control of the management domain authority; and performing anyother suitable operations conducted in the system 100 or otherwise. Inone embodiment, multiple servers 160 may be utilized to process thefunctions of the system 100. The server 160 and other devices in thesystem 100, may utilize the database 155 for storing data about thedevices in the system 100 or any other information that is associatedwith the system 100. In one embodiment, multiple databases 155 may beutilized to store data in the system 100.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates a specific example configuration of thevarious components of the system 100, the system 100 may include anyconfiguration of the components, which may include using a greater orlesser number of the components. For example, the system 100 isillustratively shown as including a first user device 102, a second userdevice 111, a communications network 120, a communications network 125,a communications network 130, a communications network 135, a managementdomain authority engine 137, a server 140, a server 145, a server 160,and a database 155. However, the system 100 may include multiple firstuser devices 102, multiple second user devices 111, multiplecommunications networks 120, multiple communications networks 125,multiple communications networks 130, multiple communications networks135, multiple management domain authority engines 137, multiple servers140, multiple servers 145, multiple servers 160, multiple databases 155,or any number of any of the other components in the system 100.Furthermore, in certain embodiments, substantial portions of thefunctionality and operations of the system 100 may be performed by othernetworks and systems that may be connected to system 100.

As shown in FIG. 2, an exemplary method 200 for providing cross-servicesapplication service, device, and network content delivery management isschematically illustrated, and may include, at step 202, associating afirst device, such as first user device 102, with a management domain136 under control of a management domain authority. In certainembodiments, the associating may include registering the first devicewith the management domain 136, the management domain authority, or acombination thereof. The method 200 is not limited to associating adevice with the management domain 136, but may also associate anapplication service, a network, a program, or any combination thereof,with the management domain 136. In certain embodiments, the associatingmay be performed by utilizing the first user device 102, the second userdevice 111, the management domain authority engine 137, the server 140,the server 145, the server 160, the communications networks 120, 125,130, 135, any combination thereof, or by utilizing any other appropriateprogram, system, or device. In certain embodiments, the associating maybe performed in response to receiving a request to join the managementdomain 136 from the first device, based on the first device being in alist of authorized devices associated with the management domainauthority, based on the management domain authority auto-detecting thefirst device, based on a recommendation provided by a device, anorganization, a member of the community, or based on any combinationthereof.

At step 204, the method 200 may include propagating one or more policiesof the management domain authority to the first device. In certainembodiments, the policies may include, but are not limited to, cost capspolicies, minimum/maximum/average bandwidth policies, bandwidthconsumption policies, packet latency policies, jitter and packet lossrequirement policies, security requirement policies, time of day/day ofweek requirements, location policies, digital rights managementparameters, account status policies, other policies, or any combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, the propagation of the one or morepolicies may be performed by utilizing the management domain authorityengine 137, management domain 136, the server 140, the server 145, theserver 160, the communications networks 120, 125, 130, 135, anycombination thereof, or by utilizing any other appropriate program,system, or device. At step 206, the method 200 may include subscribingthe first device with one or more supporting networks of the managementdomain 136 of the management domain authority. For example, the firstuser device 102 may be subscribed with communications network 120,communications network 125, communications network 130, communicationsnetwork 135, or any combination thereof. In certain embodiments, thesubscribing may be performed by utilizing the first user device 102, thesecond user device 111, the management domain authority engine 137, theserver 140, the server 145, the server 160, the communications networks120, 125, 130, 135, any combination thereof, or by utilizing any otherappropriate program, system, or device.

At step 208, the method 200 may include receiving a request for contentfrom the first device. In certain embodiments, the request for contentmay be received from the first user device 102, the second user device111, any combination thereof, or by utilizing any other appropriateprogram, system, or device. In certain embodiments, the request may be arequest for a service, a request for information, any type of request,or any combination thereof. At step 210, the method 200 may includeproviding, in response to the request, the first device with access tothe content in accordance with the one or more policies of themanagement domain authority and via one or more of the supportingnetworks of the management domain 136. In certain embodiments, theaccess to the content may be provided by the communications networks120, 125, 130, 135, the management domain authority engine 137, themanagement domain 136, the server 140, the server 145, the server 160,any combination thereof, or by utilizing any other appropriate program,system, or device. In certain embodiments, providing access to thecontent may include allowing the first device or another device withinthe management domain 136 to download the content. In certainembodiments, having access to the content may not mean that the contentmay be consumed if the device that accesses the content is notauthorized for consumption of the content.

The method 200 may include, at step 212, determining if the first deviceis authorized for consumption of the content. In certain embodiments, ifthe first device is authorized for consumption, it may mean that thefirst device may display or otherwise output the content to a user, suchas the first user 101. In certain embodiments, the determining may beperformed by utilizing the first user device 102, the second user device111, the management domain authority engine 137, the server 140, theserver 145, the server 160, the communications networks 120, 125, 130,135, any combination thereof, or by utilizing any other appropriateprogram, system, or device. If the first device is authorized forconsumption of the content, the method 200 may include, at step 214,allowing the first device to consume the content. For example, if thefirst user 101 is using first user device 102 and the first user device102 is authorized for consumption of content, the first user device 102may display the content to the first user 101. In certain embodiments,the allowing may be performed by utilizing the first user device 102,the second user device 111, the management domain authority engine 137,the server 140, the server 145, the server 160, the communicationsnetworks 120, 125, 130, 135, any combination thereof, or by utilizingany other appropriate program, system, or device.

If, however, the first device is determined to not be authorized forconsumption of the content, the method 200 may include, at step 216,offloading the content to a second device that is authorized forconsumption of the content. For example, the content accessed by thefirst device may be offloaded to a second device that is authorized forconsumption of the content. In certain embodiments, the offloading maybe performed by utilizing the first user device 102, the second userdevice 111, the management domain authority engine 137, the server 140,the server 145, the server 160, the communications networks 120, 125,130, 135, any combination thereof, or by utilizing any other appropriateprogram, system, or device. At step 218, the method 200 may includeallowing the second device to consume the content. For example, thesecond device may display or otherwise output the content so that a usermay view the content. Notably, the method 200 may incorporate any of thefeatures and functionality described for the system 100 or as otherwisedescribed herein.

The systems and methods disclosed herein may include additionalfunctionality and features. For example, the system 100 and methods maybe configured to allow a device, application service, and/or networkthat is associated with the management domain 136/management domainauthority to be made available for use by all other devices, applicationservices, and/or networks under the control of the management domainauthority. In certain embodiments, the associated device, applicationservice, and/or network may be made available for use by only a subsetof the other devices, applications services, and/or networks under thecontrol of the management domain authority. In certain embodiments, whena new application service is added by a user to a device and/orsupporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135, the new application service maybe optionally configured by the management domain authority'spropagation policies for other devices, application services, and/orsupporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 without the need for manualintervention.

The systems and methods may also include enabling devices, supportingnetworks, and/or application services to obtain content, whilepreserving the rights of copyright owners associated with the content.For example, a device of the management domain 136 may be authorized toobtain or download the content, but may be prevented from displaying orotherwise outputting the content if the device is not authorized to doso. In certain embodiments, any device in the management domain 136 maybe allowed to access (e.g. download) content, while ensuring thatconsumption of the content is constrained to the time, place, format,device, etc. for which a copyright license or other license extends tousers. In certain embodiments, the systems and methods may allow for thesetup of a completely permissive management domain authority policy. Acompletely permissive management domain authority policy may allow forthe acceptance of a new device, application service, and/or supportingnetwork, and have the new device, application service, and/or supportingnetwork be available to all elements (e.g. devices, applicationservices, networks) under the control of the management domainauthority. For example, under such a policy, a device that is newlyadded to the management domain 136 may be made available for use to allother devices under the control of the management domain authority underall circumstances.

In other embodiments, a more restrictive management domain authoritypolicy may be utilized. Under a more restrictive management domainauthority policy, the management domain authority may instituteconstraints on certain supporting networks based on costs or certainapplication service content due to digital rights managementrequirements. The management domain authority may institute any type ofconstraints, such as, but not limited to, location constraints, packetloss constraints, bandwidth constraints, or any combination thereof. Asan example, if a user purchases a new device, the new device may beidentified over a supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 and to themanagement domain authority. The management domain authority engine 137may then propagate the restrictive policies of the management domainauthority to the new device, including applications and supportingnetworks 120, 125, 130, 135. As a result, the new device may firstbecome associated with the supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135. Then,the new device may apply the management domain authority's policies toaccess an application service database engine of the management domainauthority so as to automatically cause one or more applications to beinstalled across an original network and/or any new supporting networks120, 125, 130, 135.

The systems and methods may include utilizing machine-learning functionsof the management domain authority to drive adaptive and predictiveelements, such as when a user of a device and/or application moves inphysical space, such as from one location to another. In such ascenario, a scheduler program of the management domain authority may beconfigured to anticipate content requirements for the various devicesand users under the management domain authority, and may access (e.g.download) all or part of selected content to devices that are determinedto be the most able to handle the accessing and/or storage of thecontent. If necessary, the content may then be relayed from the devicesthat accessed and/or stored the content to an authorized consumption(e.g. viewing) device for consumption. Such machine-learning functionsmay utilize linear trace vectors of the physical tracks of the devicesof users, the predicted and measured network utilization and congestion,and/or even the digital calendars of the users (e.g. digital calendarson a mobile device) when making decisions.

In certain embodiments, the systems and methods may include enablingdevices and their users within a particular management domain 136 toshare content with other devices and users in the management domain 136when their devices physically converge either in a direct peer-to-peerconnection or through a common, local network that may efficientlycross-load content payloads. For example, a user may have a user accountthat allows tablet users to view or otherwise consume content. The usermay have a car that may be connected to free Wi-Fi at the user's home orin a public setting. If the user and the tablet device are away from thecar, desired content may be downloaded to the user's connected car,which may not be authorized for consumption (e.g. viewing) of thecontent. Since the car and the tablet device of the user share a commonmanagement domain authority, the car may be authorized to obtain thecontent on the user's behalf for later display on the user's tabletdevice, which is authorized to display the content. For example, whenthe user returns to the car with the user's tablet device, the contentdownloaded by the car may be offloaded to the user's tablet device sothat the user can view the content on the tablet device.

The management domain authority's predictive and adaptive learningalgorithms may facilitate such actions and notify the user of a contentdownload's pending completion based on the user's calendar and theavailability of network resources utilized in support of the caching tobe performed by the user's connected car. The adaptive and predictivelearning of both the supporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 and thedevices within the management domain 136 may allow for smooth mediacontent experiences as they converge and diverge from network resourcesand each other. In certain embodiments, the supporting networks 120,125, 130, 135 may change, and, in certain cases, the applicationservices may change as well as the management domain authority's engine137 reassesses compliance with the management domain authority'spolicies. This may ensure that the policies of the management domainauthority are followed without needing a user to manually intervene, and“reconnect,” for example. In certain embodiments, in anticipation of amanagement domain authority-driven supporting network change, a deviceand/or application may take measures to associated with other supportingnetworks so as to result in a smooth transition, such as during contentdelivery.

The systems and methods may enable a device to associate or registerwith a management domain in a variety of ways. For example, a devicetelephone number, international mobile subscriber identity, otheridentifier, or a combination thereof, may be utilized to identify thedevice with the management domain. In certain embodiments, if the devicedoes not have an international mobile subscriber identity, for example,then a device name may be utilized to identify the device across thesupporting networks 120, 125, 130, 135 within the scope of themanagement domain authority. In such a scenario, each management domainauthority owner may ensure that each device in the management domain 136has a unique name. For example, a user device may be named “Gordon'sGSA,” which may have a corresponding Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol(DHCP) entry on a router table for an internet protocol televisionnetwork. The same device name “Gordon's G5A” may be in a router tablefor a mobile network/connected vehicle of a user, and the same devicename “Gordon's G5A” may be on a cellular account of the user that has aparticular international mobile subscriber identity.

Using the above example, the user device may have three connectivitysupporting network options: the internet protocol television network,the mobile network associated with the connected vehicle, and thecellular network. A management domain authority owner may establish whenthe user device will use each of the supporting networks. In an examplescenario, the user's internet protocol television network bandwidthusage may be limited by the Very-High-Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line(VDSL) profile for the user of the user device. The user's planassociated with the mobile network for the connected vehicle may belimited to 3 GB/month, and user's plan associated with the cellularnetwork may be limited to 60 GB/month. If the user is near the user'shome, the policy of the management domain authority may cause the userdevice to associate with the internet protocol television networkrouter. If, however, the user is driving on the road, the policy of themanagement domain authority may cause the user device to associate withand use the mobile network that is associated with the connectedvehicle, the cellular network, or a combination thereof. If, the userdevice is being utilized to watch a movie, streaming content, or othercontent associated with high bandwidth usage, the user device and itsaccompanying application service may be required to use the cellularnetwork and not the mobile network because of cost issues and downloadrestrictions that may be specified in the policies. In certainembodiments, the management domain authority engine 137 may limit thedata volume utilized for certain types of content, such as, but notlimited to, streaming content, movie content, or a combination thereof.

The systems and methods may include still further functionality andfeatures. For example, a customer of a service provider may own avariety of devices and application services. The customer, which may bea business organization or even a user, may have all the devices andapplication services configured to be within the scope and control of acommon management domain authority. Based on the foregoing, the serviceprovider may target the customer for service upgrades, bundlingpackages, and other promotional initiatives from various suppliers. Bymaking the management domain authority flexible enough to include thirdparty vendor device and application service configuration data, as wellas devices and application service configurations of devices andapplications created or installed by the management domain authorityowner (e.g. customer), then the behavior of the devices and applicationservices may be managed through a cloud computing network, such ascommunications network 135, and/or through a local server.

In certain embodiments, an adapter, such as a software program, may becreated to read the Management Information Base (MIB) associated withthe management domain authority. This may enable Simple NetworkManagement Protocol (SNMP) or other interfaces to manage the elements inthe management domain. If there is only a manual interface, such as(teletype) TTY or graphical user interface (GUI), then the adapter mayneed to interact at such a level and provide system-level primitives tomanage the device and/or application services under the scope of themanagement domain authority.

In certain embodiments, the systems and methods may include providingthe management domain authority with diagnostic capabilities, which maybe utilized to assess the performance of each device, applicationservice, and supporting network 120, 125, 130, 135 under the managementdomain 136. Additionally, the diagnostic capabilities may be utilized todetermine the influences of each element in the management domain 136 onthe experience of each member belonging to the management domainauthority. The management domain authority, such as via the managementdomain authority engine 137, may spin up or launch diagnosticapplication services for continuous, periodic, or one-time use, such aswhen a particular performance threshold is crossed. The resulting dataprovided from the operations of such diagnostic services may be storedlocally, in a cloud-computing environment, or any combination thereof.In certain embodiments, the upload of the resulting data may be moremanageable if it is only held in the event there is a performancethreshold crossed, a system alarm, or a failure that occurs for anelement in the management domain 136 of the management domain authority.The resulting data may be utilized to enrich trouble tickets associatedwith the management domain 136 and/or may be utilized as input forvarious correlative algorithms that may be utilized to determine thecauses of failures or degradations in performance.

Notably, the systems and methods may reduce and largely eliminate therepetitive and often flawed, manual administration of devices,applications services, and/or their supporting networks 120, 125, 130,135. Additionally, the systems and methods provide users andorganizations with consistency of availability of application servicesand devices across various locations and supporting networks 120, 125,130, 135 and with consistency with regard to external policy rules, suchas those associated with digital rights management. The systems andmethods also allow for superior monitoring and measurement of userexperiences and to drive up promoter scores. By having performance-basedpolicies, which may be constrained by cost-behavior policies, the userexperiences may be more rewarding for the users and less troublesome forservice providers and their customers. Furthermore, by allowing acloud-based management domain authority to be mirrored, either all or inpart, in one or more parts of a customer's application, devices, and/orsupporting network environments, it may provide further understanding ofthe environments through which the customer's applications and devicestraverse, alone with their performance. The cloud environment that maybe utilized to support the management domain authority may be accessedthrough application programming interfaces (APIs), which may provideservice providers with a family of interface methods for the cloud-basedmanagement domain authority.

Referring now also to FIG. 3, at least a portion of the methodologiesand techniques described with respect to the exemplary embodiments ofthe system 100 can incorporate a machine, such as, but not limited to,computer system 300, or other computing device within which a set ofinstructions, when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one ormore of the methodologies or functions discussed above. The machine maybe configured to facilitate various operations conducted by the system100. For example, the machine may be configured to, but is not limitedto, assist the system 100 by providing processing power to assist withprocessing loads experienced in the system 100, by providing storagecapacity for storing instructions or data traversing the system 100, orby assisting with any other operations conducted by or within the system100.

In some embodiments, the machine may operate as a standalone device. Insome embodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., usingcommunications network 120, communications network 125, communicationsnetwork 130, communications network 135, another network, or acombination thereof) to and assist with operations performed by othermachines and systems, such as, but not limited to, the first user device102, the second user device 111, the management domain authority engine137, the server 140, the server 145, the database 155, the server 160,or any combination thereof. The machine may be connected with anycomponent in the system 100. In a networked deployment, the machine mayoperate in the capacity of a server or a client user machine in aserver-client user network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine maycomprise a server computer, a client user computer, a personal computer(PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a controlsystem, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. Further, while a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 300 may include a processor 302 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 304 and a static memory 306, which communicate with each othervia a bus 308. The computer system 300 may further include a videodisplay unit 310, which may be, but is not limited to, a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a flat panel, a solid state display, or a cathode raytube (CRT). The computer system 300 may include an input device 312,such as, but not limited to, a keyboard, a cursor control device 314,such as, but not limited to, a mouse, a disk drive unit 316, a signalgeneration device 318, such as, but not limited to, a speaker or remotecontrol, and a network interface device 320.

The disk drive unit 316 may include a machine-readable medium 322 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions 324, such as, but notlimited to, software embodying any one or more of the methodologies orfunctions described herein, including those methods illustrated above.The instructions 324 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 304, the static memory 306, or within theprocessor 302, or a combination thereof, during execution thereof by thecomputer system 300. The main memory 304 and the processor 302 also mayconstitute machine-readable media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present disclosure contemplates a machine-readable medium 322containing instructions 324 so that a device connected to thecommunications network 120, communications network 125, communicationsnetwork 130, communications network 135, another network, or acombination thereof, can send or receive voice, video or data, andcommunicate over the communications network 120, communications network125, communications network 130, communications network 135, anothernetwork, or a combination thereof, using the instructions. Theinstructions 324 may further be transmitted or received over thecommunications network 120, communications network 125, communicationsnetwork 130, communications network 135, another network, or acombination thereof, via the network interface device 320.

While the machine-readable medium 322 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that causes the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure.

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “machine-readable device,” or“computer-readable device” shall accordingly be taken to include, butnot be limited to: memory devices, solid-state memories such as a memorycard or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile)memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile)memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; orother self-contained information archive or set of archives isconsidered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storagemedium. The “machine-readable medium,” “machine-readable device,” or“computer-readable device” may be non-transitory, and, in certainembodiments, may not include a wave or signal per se. Accordingly, thedisclosure is considered to include any one or more of amachine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

The illustrations of arrangements described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Other arrangements may be utilized andderived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions andchanges may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure.Figures are also merely representational and may not be drawn to scale.Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may beminimized. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Thus, although specific arrangements have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific arrangementshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments and arrangements of the invention.Combinations of the above arrangements, and other arrangements notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description. Therefore, it is intended thatthe disclosure not be limited to the particular arrangement(s) disclosedas the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but thatthe invention will include all embodiments and arrangements fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims.

The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, anddescribing embodiments of this invention. Modifications and adaptationsto these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art andmay be made without departing from the scope or spirit of thisinvention. Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would beevident to an artisan with ordinary skill in the art that saidembodiments can be modified, reduced, or enhanced without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the claims described below.

We claim:
 1. A system, comprising: a memory that stores instructions;and a processor that executes the instructions to perform operations,the operations comprising: associating a first device with a managementdomain under control of a management domain authority; propagating apolicy of the management domain authority to the first device;subscribing, in accordance with the policy, the first device with aplurality of networks associated with the management domain; receiving,from the first device, a request for content; blocking a component ofthe management domain from a content delivery operation associated withproviding access to the content, wherein the component is blocked fromthe content delivery operation based on a proximity of the component tothe first device that made the request for the content and based on aconflict of the component with a different component of the managementdomain; and providing, to the first device and in response to therequest, access to the content in accordance with the policy of themanagement domain authority and without using the component blocked fromthe content delivery operation, wherein the access to the content isprovided via at least one network of the plurality of networks to whichthe first device is subscribed.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise determining, based on the policy, if thefirst device is authorized for consumption of the content.
 3. The systemof claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise offloading, if thefirst device is determined to not be authorized for consumption of thecontent, the content to a second device that is authorized forconsumption of the content, wherein the second device is under controlof the management domain authority.
 4. The system of claim 1, whereinthe operations further comprise enabling the first device to apply thepolicy of the management domain authority to automatically install anapplication on the first device, the plurality of networks, a seconddevice of the management domain, or any combination thereof.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise providingaccess to the content based on predicted and measured networkutilization and congestion associated with the plurality of networks ofthe management domain.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise providing access to the content based on a calendar ofa user associated with the first device.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the operations further comprise adjusting subscription of thefirst device with the plurality of networks based on a change in thepolicy of the management domain authority.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the operations further comprise associating the first devicewith the management domain under control of the management domainauthority in response to receiving a request from the first device tojoin the management domain.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise associating the first device with themanagement domain under control of the management domain authority inresponse to receiving a recommendation from a member of the managementdomain.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise activating a diagnostic application to gather data associatedwith the first device if the performance of the first device falls belowa threshold performance value.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise propagating the policy of the managementdomain authority to the first device, wherein the policy is selectedfrom a cost cap policy, a bandwidth policy, a bandwidth consumptionpolicy, a packet latency policy, a jitter policy, a packet loss policy,a security requirement policy, a time-related policy, a location policy,a digital rights management policy, an account status policy, a devicepolicy, or any combination thereof.
 12. The system of claim 1, whereinthe operations further comprise configuring the first device based onthe policy of the management domain authority.
 13. A method, comprising:associating a first device with a management domain under control of amanagement domain authority; propagating, by utilizing instructions frommemory that are executed by a processor, a policy of the managementdomain authority to the first device; subscribing, in accordance withthe policy, the first device with a plurality of networks associatedwith the management domain; receiving, from the first device, a requestfor content; blocking a component of the management domain from acontent delivery operation associated with providing access to thecontent, wherein the component is blocked from the content deliveryoperation based on a proximity of the component to the first device thatmade the request for the content and based on a conflict of thecomponent with a different component of the management domain; andproviding, to the first device and in response to the request, access tothe content in accordance with the policy of the management domainauthority and without using the component blocked from the contentdelivery operation, wherein the access to the content is provided via atleast one network of the plurality of networks to which the first deviceis subscribed.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprisingdetermining, based on the policy, if the first device is authorized forconsumption of the content.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising enabling the first device to display the content if the firstdevice is authorized for consumption of the content.
 16. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising constraining, after providing access to thecontent, consumption of the content based on a time of day, a type ofdevice of the first device, a location of the first device, a format ofthe content, or any combination thereof.
 17. The method of claim 13,further comprising enabling the first device to apply the policy of themanagement domain authority to automatically install an application onthe first device, the plurality of networks, a second device of themanagement domain, or any combination thereof.
 18. The method of claim13, further comprising sharing the content with a second device of themanagement domain via a peer-to-peer connection when the first deviceand the second device are in proximity with each other.
 19. The methodof claim 13, further comprising adjusting an application provided to thefirst device based on a change in the policy of the management domainauthority.
 20. The method of claim 13, further comprising providingaccess to the content based on predicted and measured networkutilization and congestion associated with the plurality of networks ofthe management domain, or based on a combination thereof.
 21. Acomputer-readable device comprising instructions, which when executed bya processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:associating a first device with a management domain under control of amanagement domain authority; propagating a policy of the managementdomain authority to the first device; subscribing, in accordance withthe policy, the first device with a plurality of networks associatedwith the management domain; receiving, from the first device, a requestfor content; blocking a component of the management domain from acontent delivery operation associated with providing access to thecontent, wherein the component is blocked from the content deliveryoperation based on a proximity of the component to the first device thatmade the request for the content and based on a conflict of thecomponent with a different component of the management domain; andproviding, to the first device and in response to the request, access tothe content in accordance with the policy of the management domainauthority and without using the component blocked from the contentdelivery operation, wherein the access to the content is provided via atleast one network of the plurality of networks to which the first deviceis subscribed.